Geoscience knowledge inspires artistic endeavor
The topological map rendered as a four-foot-square
tapestry.
Students embraced Skidmore’s Creative Thought Matters approach with a tapestry made to fulfill an assignment for an art course inspired by the material they learned in a geoscience course.
Margaret Lefton ’15 took GE 101—Earth Systems Science with Jennifer Cholnoky and Kyle Nichols early in her Skidmore career. One of the labs in that course—an exploration of the intersection of geosciences and art—involved creating a piece of art that was related to the geosciences. That early geoscience assignment became the inspiration for a weaving project assigned in an Advanced Fiber Arts course that Lefton took a year later. Lefton explained to Cholnoky, “A group of us in Advanced Fiber Arts was asked to create a tapestry, and we took concept to heart and drew our inspiration from the topographical maps of the Au Sable Fork trails in the Adirondack region,” Lefton wrote in an email.
Lefton and fellow mapmakers Mercury Hogan ’16, Devin Sullivan ’15, Allan Brown ’15 and Megan Duffy ’15 collaborated on all aspects of the tapestry, from developing and executing a design to spinning and dying the yarn. They worked together for 12 weeks. The assignment called for them to give the completed artwork away, which several of them did earlier this year in an informal presentation to Cholnoky.
Lefton said that Cholnoky’s enthusiasm for their work made giving the tapestry to
the Geosciences Department a pleasant experience. Cholnoky explained that she and
Nichols use the course to help students understand how geosciences intersect with
other parts of their lives. “It’s really great to know that message got through and
had staying power with the students. In the 21st century you hear about how different skill sets are important. This is a great example
of how that works.”
For Lefton and her fellow artists, the interdisciplinary nature of the project resonated.
“I enjoyed taking something from a different class and applying it. I love Creative
Thought Matters and take it to heart with most of the work that I do,” she said.
